Content area
Full text
Abstract: Long before the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, the Europeans knew that in order to be internationally strong and credible, they must hold a well-defined defense policy, doubled by adequate military capabilities. If we add the trans-national character of the new risks and threats, the insufficient military resources of each state and the current budgetary rigors, European military integration becomes not only a solution but rather a necessity.
Resorting to historical representation as a research method, I examine and analyze the defense integration process in the European Union, from the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty to the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon.
Key words: integration, European defense, common capabilities, European treaties.
1. Introduction
Defense integration was a constant European preoccupation in the post-war period. Over time, this process knew encouraging successes (The Western European Union, The Petersberg Declaration), as well as repercussive failures (The European Defense Community, The Fouchet Plan).
In the context of the fall of the communist system and the resulted geopolitical changes, the signing of the Maastricht Treaty (February 7, 1992) constituted a real success of the European leaders in their demarches towards a common defense. The Common Foreign and Security Policy, as pillar of the newly created European Union, offered the political frame so necessary for the continuation of the European military integration process. After ratification by all the signatory states, the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty practically started some brave initiatives of the member states, wishful to consolidate and operationalize the European pillar within the Euro- Atlantic defense structure.
This article offers a new interpretation to significant events from the last two decades, events analyzed from the perspective of the European defense integration process: The Noordwijk Declaration; the Saint-Malo Declaration and the adoption of the European Security and Defense Policy; the European Union's Headline Goals; the "Berlin plus" Agreement; the European Security Strategy. Moreover, the paper also looks over the main provisions regarding European defense adopted through the Amsterdam and Nice Treaties, as well as those proposed through the Constitutional Treaty (not ratified though by all the signatory states).
2. Method
The research is carried on with the help of the historical representation method, as described in a study written by Kevin...